Wise and Cheerful Boldness

Yay!

It's 17th November...one of my favourite Saints is celebrated today - Hugh of Lincoln.

I wrote a little blog about this chap six years ago (SIX YEARS AGO...what?!?)

One of the characteristics I long to see more of from folk around me is cheerfulness - it sounds trite, but having a joyful demeanour, marked by a sense of patient acceptance of where we're stationed at any point in our life - this can be a deeply attractive quality.

Here's the collect for today:

O God,
who endowed your servant Hugh
with a wise and cheerful boldness
and taught him to commend to earthly rulers
      the discipline of a holy life:
give us grace like him to be bold in the service of the gospel,
putting our confidence in Christ alone,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.


In addition to cheerfulness, the prayer mentions boldness twice.

What does boldness look like for you?

How might you cultivate both boldness and cheerfulness this day?

It reminds me of the office hymn we use during All Saintstide evening prayer: Give Me the Wings of Faith

 

Give me the wings of faith to rise
within the veil, and see
the saints above, how great their joys,
how bright their glories be.

 

Once they were mourning here below,
and wet their couch with tears;
they wrestled hard, as we do now,
with sins and doubts and fears.

 

I ask them whence their victory came:
they, with united breath,
ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
their triumph to his death.

 

They marked the footsteps that he trod,
his zeal inspired their breast,
and, following their incarnate God,
possess the promised rest.

 

Our glorious Leader claims our praise
for his own pattern given;
while the long cloud of witnesses
show the same path to heaven.

Wise and cheerful Hugh

Today is the lesser festival of the intriguing character, Hugh of Lincoln.

There are two excellent (and brief) entries on Hugh on wikipedia and britannia biographies, which shed some light on his story and personality.
One particular excerpt jumped out at me:

"As a bishop he was exemplary, constantly in residence or travelling within his
diocese, generous with his charity, scrupulous in the appointments he made. He raised the quality of education at the cathedral school. Hugh was also prominent in trying to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, in the persecution they suffered at the beginning of Richard I's reign, and he put down popular violence against them in several places."

The articles also alude to his diplomatic tact, allied to his gentle humour, which enabled him to have a close relationship with the English monarch. Indeed, at one point he is recorded to have playfully shook Richard I to thaw a bad temper. With the best will in the world, deference and decorum make me surmise our own archbishop is unlikely to have a similar relationship with our monarch! Hugh is also portrayed as a caring bishop who tended to the young, the sick and the old (and the dead!). He had a fierce sense of justice, which impelled him to risk his own life in the defence of Jews.

Today's readings are supplemented with 1 Timothy 6:11-16, in which Paul adjures Timothy to pursue: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Godliness, God-like-ness, might also be rendered Christ-like-ness. In Christ we are made holy and righteous, and we are to daily pursue this, knowing the condition of our hearts. But we move on from this to our lifestyle and our attitudes. Christ came to serve. I too am called to a life of service - to the rich, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned.

In Hugh we see practical examples of what this might still look like for us. Hugh saw himself as a servant of God's people - not as their Lord. There is, indeed, only one Lord. And Hugh's life points to Jesus: his servant heart. Can I claim similar?
- He honoured his appointments. Do I?
- He gave generously. Do I?
- He cared for the sick. Do I?
- He acted justly. Do I?
- He defended the persecuted. Do I?
- He visited his brethren. Do I?
- He chapioned education. Do I?
- He even laboured in the building of Lincoln Cathedral. Do I labour on God's church, seeking to leave a legacy while also offering worship?
- He was tactful and diplomatic. Am I?
- He was good humoured. Am I?

This day I am grateful for the collect for Hugh, which speaks of Hugh's "wise and cheerful boldness".

May we seek and be granted grace to live like this, day by day.